Tuesday's around the world..

Since spring has sprung, almost every other day on her way back from school, my little girl has been gathering flowers from the meadows and bringing them home to me. Yesterday she wasn't home way past her usual time causing my poor heart to flutter. As I prepared myself to go looking for her, she walks in with this amazing bouquet of blossoms, all neatly tied up with wild grass. 

Our dining table has never looked prettier than this.

A postcard..

Guess what arrived in the mail today?

A postcard from SONNY!!

This was just before we were to go and pick him up..

Mail within Germany more so within the same region sure took long to arrive.

His short message warmed me up and brought a smile to my face...

and also prepared me well.

He wrote he had showered only once in 5 days......eeeeeeeks

and he was returning with a bad throat and lost voice!! 

So much for school camps..:-)

The above is the place they stayed. He had lots and lots of fun. And missed us the most at night. 

Now I have to get him back in shape for the next week. Lots of hot tea and warm cuddles should do the trick. Till then,

Happy Weekend to all!!

A new year..

A new beginning.

After a fantastic summer break, the schools in Bavaria re opened today. Since it was our girl's first day at the Gymnasium, we parents had to accompany her. 

The teachers were introduced, the students sent to their respective classroom. 

There was a slight cause for worry as she was separated from her group of friends(they are grouped according to the language chosen).

By the time they returned all was well. Apparently sonny too is separated from his group as he has chosen a different language this year .

They are quite excited with their student plans, list of books to buy and new subjects to learn.

Now, we are headed out to shop for school supplies. Over the weekend, I should be back on the blogging track.

Treasures..

Oh the treasures children come home with....
A tender maple leaf with velvety texture and intricate design.

Maybe we should make a collage of such leaves to remind us of our beautiful stay surrounded by the Spessart . 

Play dates..

The kids have been home since the past 10 days. Also one of the reasons for the sporadic posts. 

Before the holidays began they expressed a desire to invite their friends over for play dates.

For the past 2 years, I lacked the confidence to have any of their friends over.

Even now, it did get me stressed up.

My kids have been fortunate enough to have made plenty of local friends.

So, I decided it was about time to let go of my fear.

What were my fears?

What would I feed them? German or Indian food?

Would they like it or not?

What would I say to them?

Would I embarrass my kids in front of their friends with my broken German language?

It was about time to toss away my worries out of the window and begin interacting with my kid's friends.

They did have a lovely time, all of them...

With the legos, video games, some dancing to MJ and water pistols at the park..

Now they want to do it all over again, during summer.

Oh Happy Day!!

So far, today has been amusing than ever!! I am kind of enjoying it....:D

Sonny will play his guitar for the first time today in a small concert.

Following which he will act in a german play.

He has a big role!! Any guess??

He plays a King, Snow white's Father.

He is so sure of himself, very confident.

Well me, I am nervous....

The play is in the german language...

What if he forgets his lines??

Both his performances are in different venues. It's gonna be a mad dash, with guitar, costumes and all. Wish us luck!!

TODAY...

TODAY,
she is officially enrolled in the gymnasium or the so called german high school.

Come September, she joins her brother in this new phase of learning.

Wooohooo!!!

Row row row your boat.

In the two and a half years that we have lived here, the german friends we have made are countable. Yet, I know that these friendships will last a life time. 

With these friends we are able to have experiences which otherwise would not be possible. The few times we get together, we love exchanging stories and information about our respective countries, traditions and culture. 

The past weekend saw temperatures soaring quite high and we were invited to this pretty lake nestled deep in the Main Spessart. This patch of land has been rented by the family for the past 40 years. They say it's a lot of hard work to maintain it. The water's got to be pumped out, the grass cut, the weeds pulled out..a lot of work. But in the end, when they are able to simply relax and listen to the sounds of nature, it is worth the hard work.

They also had a little boat with oars. The kids simply took turns rowing and rowing, going around in circles searching for frogs. They seemed to not get enough of this adventure. 

So smitten were they with the whole thing,all they now want is a boat of their own...:D And me, I did not even know that renting a patch of land in such paradise was possible. I had written a post about leasing land for having a garden of your own, but this was new to me. 

Spring, we welcome thee.

I do not know about you, but I have been waiting like crazy for this burst of green...

Though its cold and the sun is definitely playing hide and seek, am so grateful for the sight of color.

See there, the boat rides have begun too. I am determined to go on not one but two of them this year. One will definitely be on the dear river Main and the other, hmm....maybe the Rhein?

For now, I am content with the long walks and simply listening to the squeals of delight from both the birds on the trees and my kids who have long been waiting for this season to arrive!!!

How has it been in your part of the world?

Goodbye seems to be the hardest word

My sister returned to Scotland on Saturday. And for the next 2 days our little girl surprised us by being a weepy mess. The past 2 weeks were so awesome, she could not get herself to believe that it was all over.

The days up to her aunt's arrival were ones of excitement and childish preparation with a kind of frenzy.  

And once she was here, it was like the three of them were on holiday together.....

Do you know of an aunt who allows herself to be thrown at with umpteen number of snow balls till the face gets totally frozen...:D

And then one who just never gets fed up of playing monopoly, morning, noon or night,

one who has the patience of ( heaven knows) when the little ones are pretend guides for a day and just cannot seem to be quiet even for a second!!

one who gives piggy back rides all over town even though her back feels like it's falling apart...

one who leaves notes and treasures collected during one of their walks.

Well, she is one kind of an aunt to both of them.

I hope she returns and they can together create many more beautiful memories.

Tuesdays around the world

Last evening squeals of laughter, giggles and screams were coming from our living room. The kids had introduced their aunt to the game of monopoly and apparently aunty was getting rich in the process. Thats why the excitement....:D

We have my little sister visiting for 2 weeks and the kids are over the moon. Living abroad has a few disadvantages and having a loved one over is one of them. Germany is just too far and way too expensive for visits. So for kids who were used to having grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins(we are a very large family) drop in every month or two, living in Germany felt like living in forced exile. Fortunately for us, she is studying in Scotland for the next year and we are looking forward to having her over frequently.

What's your today like? Join us in the fun, we love to have you over....

Sundays in my City

I hope everybody has had a lovely week. We have been experiencing the warmest Advent season and I have never been so happy. In exactly a weeks time we should be touching down in India. Yes, I will be home for Christmas!!! There are no words to describe the excitement we are going through and not to forget the countdown the kids are having. 

The kids have been busy with their christmas preparations in school. They know that I love everything hand made and when it is made with their own hands, I go giddy with joy and excitement. They love giving me little hints as to what they are making and when the day finally arrives, they bring their treasured pieces home. And like any mommy, I proudly display their work of art for all to see. 

P.S: The above nativity scene was hand sculpted by my daughter at school. Apparently Joseph was mixed up with another girl's and there was no way she could find the one she made. Once home, she begged me not to display cause this figurine looked funny to her. I had to convince her that they all looked great and that I was not willing to trade this for any other nativity scene. 

Martin's Tag, 2011

Imagine my surprise when I stepped out of the house yesterday to buy a lantern for my daughter to take part in the Martin's tag procession which I thought was to be on 11.11.11!!!! Everybody were walking towards the spielplatz with LANTERNS!!! Luckily, my knowledge of little german came to my rescue..... 

Stopping a passerby I asked" ist heute Martin's tag??".

"Ja" came the reply.

 "Um wie veil Uhr?"

"Jetzt!!"

eeeeks,jetzt(now) I shrieked!!!!

So it was a mad dash with a lantern to a house with kids already snuggled warm in their house wear cosily in front of the TV. It was in record time that we dressed and ran to the ground all the while praying that the whole thing was not over!!!

Most of the kids had self made pretty lanterns...

In comparison to last year, the crowd was pretty huge this year and also I personally felt quite noisy. In 10 minutes my daughter felt so GROWN UP and declared this was not for her but for kindergarten children!!!

So debating whether to take part in the procession or not, they finally agreed to walk a portion and then head back home.

The houses on the streets where the procession walked were all lit up with t-lights in bottles.

So much for our eventful Martin's Tag!!!

Pirate turns 11!

My pirate turned 11 on halloween's day. We celebrated with lots of choco muffins(his favorite) and a yummylicious Indian dinner all prepared by mommy the chef. Back home in India, birthdays and anniversaries meant going out to our favorite restaurants, but the german cuisine has not tickled our palettes so much as to long to go out and eat on special days( they are reserved more for our day trips or holidays).

I would have loved to decorate these cakes with halloween characters, but these lady bugs were the best I could find next to girly stuff. Never the less, my little pirate was super pleased with these.

Ahoy captain!!!!

Tomorrow, it's Sonny's first halloween party ever. There are no words to describe his excitement...

Halloween is something he has loved to read and dream about considering the fact that we do not celebrate it in India. So, when the school sent a note home saying there would be a celebration, he could not contain his excitement. 

With the note came dread(for me)....It meant he would have to dress up appropriately, to suit the occasion, all fearful and scary!!!!

Why don't you dress up as a ghost, said I... All I got to do is cut big circles as eyes on a big white sheet and then, you are ready to go!!!

Ohhh, thats too easy a costume for you to make Mamma declares he...

I wanna be a PIRATE!!!

Oh captain Jack Sparrow, why has my son a fascination towards you, oh why??? 

Gone are the days when I would jump at the opportunity to prepare such costumes for my kiddos..

All my enthusiasm seems to have....gone with the wind!!!

So, here I am with needle, thread, paper, glue and scissors to make my boy the perfect pirate!!

Still, a little girl..

When it comes to movies, I am a kiddo at heart...:) I love giving my kids company or rather the kids love it that I watch along with them.......:D

Sci fi.....I never understand it..

Murder, violence, lies, deceit.......gosh!!! How can somebody ever enjoy all this??

Fairytales, romance.....I love them all.....

The knight in shining armor, the trapped princess.......

I never tire of them.....

If there's a dash of humor, then even more merrier!!!

There is no count as to how many times we have watched our favorite movies, over and over again.......Many of them during my childhood and now all over again with my kids....

What kind of a movie person are you??

A warm welcome to all my new followers. I love having you over and hope that you enjoy my space..:)

Plum Crumble

For those of you who have been reading my posts, you will know that we were invited to the night watchman's tour of Lohr am Main. After the tour we proceeded to celebrate the 13th birthday of our good friends T&S's daughter. T is British, S German. So they always have a mix of both german and british cuisine on their table. The desert for the night was British Plum Crumble. It's a kind of plum pudding with plums(or any other soft fruit) for the base and a crumble mix of flour, sugar, and egg sprinkled on the top and baked.  It sounded very easy to prepare and I was determined to bake it this week. 

By now, you must also be aware that I am home alone with my daughter. Well, today sonny also joined us and so we were a trio!!  Home early meant plenty of iPad time or that's what he thought. He loves reading(I know its a good habit), but he has given up his books for the little pad. Determined to reduce the time spent on the electronic tablet(I had hid it) I invited him to join me in baking. 

The pitting of the first 5 plums were like this:

Sonny: Where is the iPad?

Me: We are baking now. Forget the thing.

Sonny: Once I am done pitting the plums will you tell me?

Me: Will see about that.....

By the time he was on the 10th, he not only was engrossed, he wanted to do the whole preparation all by himself. I let him...:) So here's how he did it....

Wash well and pit 3 pounds or one and a quarter kilograms of plums. Cut them into halves.

Combine plums and quarter cup brown sugar to blend well.

Lightly butter a baking dish..

Arrange plums in them..

Sift together 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, half a teaspoon each of salt and cinnamon powder. Beat an egg and stir into the flour mixture stirring lightly with fork until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly over the plums.

Melt half a cup of butter and drizzle over the crumble(I did this step). Bake plum crumble at 190 degrees celsius for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream.

That night we had it with ice cream, today as it is. Either way, it tastes delicious. Not only did sonny enjoy the whole episode, he wants to try his hand at whipping more dishes. I think some day, his wife is gonna thank me...:D

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